Don't Judge a Book by Its Cover
by Silkmouse
Summary: I was looking for an idea for a nice little one shot, and while zoning out, my brain stumbled upon this. What if someone bumped into Harry and the Gang and mistook Hermione for the pure blood and Neville for the muggle born?


It was just a normal day for young 20 year old Eleazar Rawlins; he was walking down Diagon Alley heading toward his new job as a sales clerk at Flourish and Blots, when he collided with a young girl with bright red hair, his recommendation letters flying all over the place at the impact.

"Sorry Miss!" he said in a hurry to apologize and gather his papers "Didn't see you there, honestly!"

"That's ok." She answered in a kind voice "I should have been looking where I was going."

"Blimey, are you sure you're alright, Ginny?" asked a boy with the same color hair as the girl.

"I'm fine." She answered in a slightly irritated voice.

"I'm sure it wasn't anyone's fault." commented a girl with light blond hair "It must have been those tricky wrackspurts again."

Another girl with bushy brown hair sighed and rolled her eyes at the statement "Really Luna, must you confuse people? There are no such things as wrackspurts."

"That's not what my father says." She simply answered.

"You're father's a lunatic." The boy with red hair mumbled.

"You guys." The red headed girl said to them "You're being quite rude."

Standing up, he realized there were six to the group; three boys and three girls. Looking them over, he immediately recognized the one in the middle.

"Well I'll be!" Eleazar exclaimed "You're Harry Potter!"

"Yeah." He answered, looking a little uncomfortable.

He held out my hand, which he shook "I'm Eleazar Rawlins, new sales clerk at Flourish and Blots." He said, introducing himself "And who might your friends be?"

"Well this is Ron Weasely, Hermione Granger, Ginny Weasely, Luna Lovegood, and Neville Longbottom." He replied, gesturing to each one in turn.

Eleazar turned to the one named Luna "Lovegood? Isn't that the name of the fellow who writes the Quibbler?"

"You've read it?" she inquired, smiling.

"Yes, but I admit I found his article about Crumple-Horned Snorkacks to be a bit odd."

"My father is very busy collecting research on them." She said "He works hard for what he does."

He stared at her for a few moments before he turned to the two red haired children "And are you two by any chance related to Arthur Weasely from the Ministry of Magic?"

They nodded, not knowing what to say, meanwhile the other boy; the one called Neville tried a summoning charm on his scattered recommendation papers.

"Accio papers!" he said, waving his wand in a feeble attempt to make the papers come to him. Instead they just spread out even more across the alley.

"Nice try Neville." Hermione said "But you need to put a little more wrist movement in it." She pulled her wand out of her pocket and pointed it at the papers "Accio papers!" she said with confidence. Immediately all the documents came flying forward and landed into a neat little pile at Eleazar's feet.

_Now that's a witch. _He thought _She must be a pure-blood to be able to work magic so well. And as for the boy, well I don't think I could say the same for him. After all he doesn't have a very good knack for magic. He must be muggle born._

"Hermione's the best in our house." Harry said proudly.

"I can see that." Eleazar smiled, turning to Hermione he asked "Do you come to Diagon Alley often?"

"No." she answered "Only during the school year."

He pondered that. _That's strange; perhaps her parents won't let her come for any other occasion._

"Have I ever heard of your parents?" He asked her.

She blushed "I doubt it, they practice as dentists."

He crinkled his eyebrows in confusion "What's a den...tist?"

"It's a muggle occupation." Harry answered.

That surprised Eleazar "They're muggles?" he inquired.

"Got a problem with it do ya'?" Ron asked suspiciously.

"No." he answered "Just a little surprised."

"Yes, I suppose no one would usually think a muggle born would be as good at magic as Hermione is." Luna commented.

"Neville!" cried an old woman's voice.

"Coming Gran." Neville answered "Just give me two minutes."

"You're here with your grandmother?" Eleazar asked him.

"Well she usually takes me everywhere with her." Neville answered, turning a bit red "She's afraid I might break one of her antiques if she left me home alone."

It took Eleazar a few seconds to think about that "You're the son of Frank and Alice Longbottom!" he exclaimed "The two famous aurors!"

"Well" Neville began.

"Neville Longbottom I've had enough of your stalling." His grandmother yelled "Get over here this instant!"

"I have to go." He said, and left the group.

Suddenly Eleazar heard the clock chime "Merlin's beard!" he yelped "I'm going to be late for my first day at work!"

"And we still need to meet mum at the Leaky Cauldron." Ron said to Ginny "Best not keep her waiting."

Eleazar shook their hands one last time before taking off for Flourish and Blots "Well it was certainly pleasant meeting you all, but I must hasten; a man first day is his most important."

As they said their good byes and went their separate ways, Eleazar thought about what he had discovered. _I guess one doesn't need to be a pure-blood to be good at magic. That was just a ridiculous stereo type. One just needs the patience and determination. Well that just goes to show that…_

_you should never judge a book by its cover._


End file.
